Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

WriteFreely VS Hexo

Compare WriteFreely VS Hexo and see what are their differences

WriteFreely logo WriteFreely

Write Freely is free and open source software for starting a minimalist, federated blog — or an entire community.

Hexo logo Hexo

A fast, simple & powerful blog framework, powered by Node.js
  • WriteFreely Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-13
  • Hexo Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-14

WriteFreely features and specs

  • Open Source
    WriteFreely is open source, allowing users to inspect, modify, and contribute to the code. This fosters transparency and community-driven improvements.
  • Privacy-Focused
    The platform places a high emphasis on user privacy, with features that avoid tracking and unnecessary data collection, providing a more secure writing environment.
  • Minimalistic Interface
    WriteFreely offers a clean, distraction-free interface, enabling writers to focus on their content without unnecessary frills.
  • Federated
    WriteFreely supports the ActivityPub protocol, which allows integration with other federated platforms like Mastodon, broadening reach and interaction.
  • Self-Hosting Option
    Users have the option to self-host their WriteFreely instance, providing greater control over their data and customization.

Possible disadvantages of WriteFreely

  • Limited Features
    The focus on minimalism means that WriteFreely lacks some of the more advanced features found in other blogging platforms, such as built-in SEO tools or extensive plugin ecosystems.
  • Technical Skills Required for Self-Hosting
    Self-hosting WriteFreely requires a reasonable level of technical knowledge, which could be a barrier for users without sysadmin skills.
  • Customization Constraints
    The simplicity of the platform can be a downside for users seeking advanced customization options for their blogs’ look and feel.
  • Limited User Support
    Being a smaller, community-driven project, WriteFreely may not offer the extensive customer support that larger, commercial platforms provide.

Hexo features and specs

  • Speed
    Hexo is a static site generator, meaning it can generate and serve content rapidly compared to traditional CMS (Content Management Systems). This results in faster page load times and better performance.
  • Markdown Support
    Hexo uses Markdown for content creation, making it simple for users to write and format text easily. Markdown is widely used and allows for a clean separation of content and formatting.
  • Customization
    Hexo provides a high degree of customization through its robust plugin system and theme capabilities. Users can easily extend functionality and change the look and feel of their site.
  • SEO Friendly
    Hexo generates clean, static HTML files which are easily indexable by search engines. This makes it an SEO-friendly solution for creating websites and blogs.
  • Open Source
    Hexo is an open-source project, which means it's free to use, and you can contribute to the project or modify the source code to suit your needs.
  • Deployment Flexibility
    Hexo supports a variety of deployment methods including GitHub Pages, Heroku, Netlify, and others, making it easy to publish your site.

Possible disadvantages of Hexo

  • Learning Curve
    While Markdown is easy to use, the overall setup of Hexo and understanding its configuration files can be challenging for beginners, especially those unfamiliar with static site generators.
  • Dependency on Node.js
    Hexo relies on Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager), so you need to have these installed on your machine. This dependency can be a barrier for people not familiar with JavaScript or the Node.js ecosystem.
  • Content Management
    Unlike traditional CMS platforms like WordPress, Hexo does not provide a built-in content management interface. All content is managed through files, which can be less convenient for non-technical users.
  • Build Times on Large Sites
    For very large websites with lots of pages and posts, the build times in Hexo can become lengthy as all files need to be regenerated each time a change is made.
  • Limited Ecosystem
    While Hexo has a decent number of plugins and themes, its ecosystem is not as vast as some other static site generators or CMS platforms like Jekyll or WordPress. This could limit your options for extending your site.
  • Version Compatibility
    Updates to Hexo or its plugins can sometimes lead to compatibility issues, requiring users to spend time debugging and resolving conflicts, which can be frustrating.

Analysis of WriteFreely

Overall verdict

  • Overall, WriteFreely is a good option for individuals seeking a lightweight, privacy-focused writing platform. Its open-source nature and community-driven development add to its appeal.

Why this product is good

  • WriteFreely is a well-regarded platform due to its simplicity, open-source nature, and focus on privacy. It allows users to publish text-based content without distractions, making it suitable for writers who prefer a minimalist interface. Additionally, its decentralized approach aligns with the values of users who prioritize data ownership and privacy.

Recommended for

  • Writers who prefer distraction-free environments
  • Users who value open-source software and privacy
  • Individuals or groups looking to host their own blogging platform
  • Fans of minimalist design and functionality

Analysis of Hexo

Overall verdict

  • Hexo is a solid choice for those who want a lightweight and fast static site generator, especially if you need straightforward blogging functionality and are comfortable working with Node.js and Markdown.

Why this product is good

  • Hexo is a popular and powerful static site generator known for its simplicity, speed, and strong community support. It is built on Node.js, making it suitable for developers familiar with JavaScript. It offers a wide range of themes and plugins, allowing for flexible customization and extension. It's particularly favored for blogging due to its efficient content management and the ability to deploy quickly to platforms such as GitHub Pages.

Recommended for

  • Developers seeking a simple and fast static site generator.
  • Bloggers who prefer writing in Markdown and value speed in generation and deployment.
  • Users comfortable with Node.js looking for extensive community support and customizable themes.

WriteFreely videos

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Hexo videos

Tsunami by Hexo One Hitter Weed Review

More videos:

  • Review - Hexo Corp. Cannabis Original Stash OS.220 1 Ounce review Indica Blend
  • Review - HEXO Corp. - HEXO Stock Chart Technical Analysis for 06-16-2020

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to WriteFreely and Hexo)
Blogging
49 49%
51% 51
CMS
47 47%
53% 53
Blogging Platform
59 59%
41% 41
Social Networks
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare WriteFreely and Hexo

WriteFreely Reviews

  1. Kristina Ponting
    · home at Homewife ·
    I love this:)

    It is siple to use, the words are the center:)


25+ Medium Alternative Platforms for Publishing Articles
WriteFreely is designed for writing, with little distraction and an easy-to-use interface. It’s free to use and can be edited on any browser, which makes it very versatile.
Source: forgefusion.io

Hexo Reviews

We have no reviews of Hexo yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, WriteFreely should be more popular than Hexo. It has been mentiond 35 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

WriteFreely mentions (35)

  • The Home Server Journey - 6: Your New Blogging Career
    When looking for something more dynamic, I initially though about using Plume, since it's easy to integrate with some applications I plan to deploy later, but unfortunately it's not well maintained anymore. As Ghost or Wordpress seem overkill, I ended up opting for the conveniences of WriteFreely: it lets me create and edit posts in-place, with Markdown support and no need to upload new files. However, that comes... - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Why I'm leaving Medium: AI policy
    From the top of my head: https://ghost.org/ https://writefreely.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • One of the greatest user interface disasters in history
    Mastodon is a microblogging service, so not meant for large bodies of text. This is why the text entry box is small, the columns are somewhat narrow (especially in deck mode) etc. Platforms like https://writefreely.org/ , which are designed to be for blogging and long-form writing, are the place to write this. Write Freely federates so one can follow accounts and interact with posts via Mastodon etc. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Which platform for occasional blog posts?
    An alternative to Plume is WriteFreely, which is a pretty clean & simple experience. Just don't expect to much regarding customization. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • ActivityPub server that can run on Docker with external db?
    And since you've mentioned you want to write a blog, take a look at WriteFreely: https://writefreely.org/. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

Hexo mentions (21)

  • Crosspost! Publishing to Dev.to From My Personal Blog
    My website is a static site built with Hexo and served through GitHub Pages. Hexo's documentation isn't the best, but with a little digging, I found that, in the years since I last used it, they've provided a pretty robust first-party plugin for generating RSS and ATOM feeds. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Ask HN: Looking for lightweight personal blogging platform
    There's also hexo [1]. I saw that on Matt Klein's website [2] and the theme looked pretty clean. [1] https://hexo.io [2] https://mattklein123.dev/2020/03/08/2020-03-07-new-website/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Hexo, WebFinger and better discoverability
    In my case, the latter is not possible because this blog is a static site, generated via Hexo and hosted on GitHub. It simply lacks a modifiable active server component. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Nuxt 3 - showcase your sites
    Previously I've used Nuxt2 and even sooner - hexo.io. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Building a static blog using Jekyll & Strapi
    To make their creation easier, numerous open-source static websites generators are available: Jekyll, Hugo, Gatsby, Hexo, etc. Most of the time, the content is managed through static (ideally Markdown) files or a Content API. Then, the generator requests the content, injects it in templates defined by the developer and generates a bunch of HTML files. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing WriteFreely and Hexo, you can also consider the following products

Ghost - Ghost is a fully open source, adaptable platform for building and running a modern online publication. We power blogs, magazines and journalists from Zappos to Sky News.

Hugo - Hugo is a general-purpose website framework for generating static web pages.

Tumblr - A feature rich and free blog hosting platform offering professional and fully customizable templates, bookmarklets, photos, mobile apps, and social network integration.

Jekyll - Jekyll is a simple, blog aware, static site generator.

Medium - Welcome to Medium, a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you.

GatsbyJS - Blazing-fast static site generator for React